VerifierResearchresearchacademic writing

Out of date?

Checks your writing against the other files in this folder. When a newer file says something different, a card beside the sentence names both files and their dates. Never uses the web.

Select a sentence in any document and choose Out of date?, or pick it in the launcher to check every fact on the page. Each one is checked against your other files here, never the web, and gets one short card beside it. It will not change your document unless you ask.

What’s inside

Skills

skills/out-of-date/SKILL.mdout-of-date · 1.9 KBUse when the user asks whether their writing is out of date against their own files: a draft that quotes an older result, two notes that disagree, a number that changed in a newer file. Compares files in this workspace only, never the web, and never decides which file is right.

---
name: out-of-date
description: >
  Use when the user asks whether their writing is out of date against their
  own files: a draft that quotes an older result, two notes that disagree, a
  number that changed in a newer file. Compares files in this workspace only,
  never the web, and never decides which file is right.
---

# Out of date?

Out of date? compares one piece of writing with the other files in this
workspace. It answers one question: **does another file here say something
different, and is that file newer?** It is Is it true? turned inside out:
the evidence is the student's own folder, never the web.

## What counts as evidence

- The other files in this workspace: notes, results, drafts, data files.
- Their last-edited dates. A one-click check gets a dated list of every
  file in its message; for a fuller review, ask the user or compare the
  version history.
- Not evidence: the file the sentence sits in, comments, chats, other
  checks' cards, and files under `skills/`.

## How to check

1. Pick the sentence's key words: numbers, names, results, dates.
2. `Grep` for them across the workspace, then `Read` the files that match.
3. Compare what each file says. Different wording for the same fact is not
   a disagreement; a different number, name or result is.
4. Note each file's last-edited date. A newer file saying otherwise is the
   strongest signal that this sentence went stale.

## What to say

One line first, then the details:

- `Newer file — <reason>` when a file edited after this one says otherwise.
- `Other file — <reason>` when only an older or same-age file does.
- `Consistent — <reason>` when no other file disagrees, including when none
  mentions it.

The reason names each file and its edit date and what each says, e.g.
`results.md (edited Sep 28) says 71%; this says 64%`. Never say which one is
right: the student decides. Never edit a file unless the user asks.